Occupant Entertainment pic to helmed by Sophie Barthes

Wasikowska will play the lead role of Emma Bovary, the beautiful wife of a small-town doctor who she married to escape her father’s pig farm. She constantly tries to climb the social ladder by engaging in extra-marital affairs.

Barthes’ “Cold Souls” star Paul Giamatti is attached to play Monsieur Homais, the town apothecary who is a close confidant of her husband Charles and threatens to reveal the protag’s steamy indiscretions.

While the adaptation is a period piece that will remain faithful to Gustave Flaubert’s original story, it’s a fresh retelling of the classic novel, emphasizing the more youthful and contemporary themes.

Joe Neurauter and Felipe Marino will produce for Occupant.

Production will start this fall in Europe, and WME will handle domestic rights.

Wasikowska, who played the title role in Tim Burton’s billion-dollar grosser “Alice in Wonderland,” is about to start filming Richard Ayoade’s “The Double” with Jesse Eisenberg. She also stars in Fox Searchlight’s thriller “Stoker,” and will soon be seen in a supporting role alongside Shia LaBeouf in John Hillcoat’s “Lawless.”

Giamatti, who recently appeared in George Clooney’s “The Ides of March,” will soon be seen in WB’s musical “Rock of Ages” and David Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis.”

Occupant is about to start production on Sam Rockwell-starrer “Better Living Through Chemistry.” Company is also backing Daniel Stamm’s psychological thriller “The Darkness,” which has Mary Elizabeth Winstead (“Smashed”) attached to star.

Wasikowska is repped by WME and RGM, while Giamatti is repped by UTA and Kipperman Management.